Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Writer: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa (Screenplay)
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Adrian Martinez, Gerald McRaney, Rodrigo Santoro, BD Wong, Brennan Brown, Robert Taylor
Plot: In the midst of veteran con man Nicky’s latest scheme, a woman from his past – now an accomplished femme fatale – shows up and throws his plans for a loop.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Stylish
Story: Focus starts as we meet experience con artist Nicky (Smith) who scouts for fellow con artist where he finds Jess (Robbie) a young upstart who he shows a few tricks to. Nicky brings Jess into his team of petty thieves and con artists teaching her all the tricks his team use to make their money.
After making a record score with his team we get to see Nicky get seduced into a gambling battle with Liyuan (Wong) where he shows off all of his skills taking everything to a level Jess wasn’t ready for, leaving her out of the business.
Three years later Nicky has been hired by Garriga (Santoro) a race car driver who wants him insure his team wins only for his plan to go out the window when Jess turns up claiming to be out of the business.
Focus is a con artist film that seems to have a con going on during every single scene seemingly having a con going on. Where the story struggles is the awful chemistry between Nicky and Jess which keeps getting thrown at us and comes off cringe worthy. The story does come off well without being that stand out in the genre of the con artist.
Actor Review
Will Smith: Nicky is the expert the con artist who leads a team on all his jobs, he takes young con artist Jess under his wing who takes him out of his game. After trying to cut her out his life he struggles to find work and when he finally gets back into the game Jess re-enters his life turning everything upside down on his latest job. Will is good with the con artist side of the story but when it comes to chemistry there is none between them.
Margot Robbie: Jess is a young con artist that Nicky shows the ropes to while catching his attention, she learns from him before finding herself in the middle of his latest job. Margot is solid but lacks that chemistry with Will.
Adrian Martinez: Farhad is Nicky’s tech guy and go to guy on any job he is working on. Farhad has always adds the only laughs in the film. Adrian is good comic relief only really.
Gerard McRaney: Owens is the muscle for Garriga who has always been against using a con artist checking up on every single move Nicky makes. Gerard is solid in this role but is just a glorified muscle like character.
Support Cast: Focus has a supporting cast that all work with the con going on but in the end they don’t come off memorable.
Director Review: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa – The pair give us a twist on the con artist film where they try to make us wonder just what is real or not throughout the film.
Comedy: Focus doesn’t really hit many of the laughs it tries for.
Crime: Focus does through us into the world of petty criminals and con artists showing just how slick they can be.
Settings: Focus doesn’t use any iconic settings through the film never really using them to make anything big happen.
Special Effects: Focus has a few effects but tries to keep everything with slick camera work.
Suggestion: Focus is one I do think is worth a try but other than that it won’t be for everyone. (Try It)
Best Part: Con Artist side of the story.
Worst Part: Chemistry really sucks.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too:
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $50,1 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
Tagline: Never Drop The Con
Overall: Stylish but bland con artist film.
Rating
